Notes / Commercial Description:
Victoria Ale was inspired by a visit to Victoria Mansion, in Portland, Maine and the visual references to Bacchus, the god of wine. The brewer's decided to fuse the worlds of beer and wine. Over two hundred pounds of Chardonnay (Vidal Blanc in 2010) grapes were brought in, crushed on site and added directly to the mash. Victoria Ale's aroma is fruity spice, and the taste presents subtle notes of green banana, black pepper, and fresh-crushed mint. With a focus on the subtle, wine-like character of the grapes, the 9.0% ABV brew boasts a pale copper color, Belgian yeast influence, and a medium body with a long candied fruit finish with hints of honeydew melon, and, of course, white wine grapes.

The cork was easy to get out- not always the case with corked beers. One of the easier corks I have taken out of a craft beer bottle. It has thumb grooves( as do Boulevard corks), and was easily twisted out.

Poured a 3F head, copper-gold color, with attractive lacing in a Stone IPA glass, which looks similar
to the glass Allagash uses. This older style IPA glass, ( pre- Dogfish Head Spiegelau) has a been a choice stemware glass for me, and it works well for this beer and other styles, including Imperial stouts.

Nice aroma- not too strong- spicy fruit and some barnyard.

Moderately carbonated. The MF is very malt forward with warming.

Superb taste: champagne-wine like quality fruit, finished by a lightly hoppy bitter finish. The wine-like fruit taste is more pronounced with warming.

Overall: excellent beer. Although the aroma could be a bit stronger, the taste and finish are distinctive.
Over two hundred pounds of chardonnay grapes in the mash. Best to taste it at different temps- from 40-50°F to bring out the different characteristics.

I am biased when it comes to Allagash. I think they brew interesting, tasty beers, and this is no exception. I had a 750ml bottle all for myself. After pouring the first glass, I let the bottle come to more of a room temperature. The beer was a cloudy orange with a medium head. The smell was mostly sweet fruit. The taste was fruity, somewhat tart, with a little hoppiness. I'm not certain I could detect a vinous character to it. As the beer warmed, it became dryer and more malty/yeasty. Very interesting. Somewhat carbonated. Another great offering from Allagash.

Reviewed from notes. The beer pours an orange color with a large white head. The aroma is heavy on the white wine notes, with some nice orange and other tropical fruit notes coming through. The flavor is more of the same. I get some biscuit and wheat notes, as well as some orange and chardonnay grape notes. There is a lot of fruit in the beer, and a decent amount of sweetness and Belgian yeast. The alcohol is well hidden. Medium mouthfeel and high carbonation.

Damn fine beer - looks great in the glass, billowing head and thick creamy lacing. There's just the perfect amount of funk to the nose and taste, wonderful sweet vinegar presence as well as dark ripe fruit - plums come to mind. Creamy mouthfeel. This is an amazing beer that would appeal to most anyone, great entry to sours for the novice and enough complexity for the purist. Wonderful brew.

A- This beer has a straw yellow lightly hazy body that as a snow white creamy head that last for the full beer. There is a strong carbonation of microbubbles that glide to the surface.

S- The smell of soft sweet honey has a bread crust note to it. For the most part the smell is pretty clean.

T- This beer has a sweet honey malt flavor with some light white caramel flavors and a faint note of banana and bread dough to it. There is a soft bitterness at the finish that has a soft green noble hop note to it.

M- This beer has a light mouthfeel with a creamy texture that finish with no sign of alcohol heat.

D- This beer has a nice smooth wheat sweetness to it with a good balance from the hops. The flavors are not as concise as typically malt and hops flavors but have more of a mystery to them.